Film INDEX
Beauty (Skoonheid) (18) (Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, 2011) Deon Lotz, Charlie Keegan, Michelle Scott. 99min. South African drama about a man’s detachment and self-disgust with his own sexuality. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Beauty and the Beast (U) (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, US, 1991) Voices of Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White. 84min. The first animated film ever to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, the 30th Walt Disney feature-length cartoon is a classic by anyone’s standards. And now it’s in glorious 3D. General release. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey (U) ●●●●● (Constance Marks, US, 2011) 76min. Documentary on Sesame Street’s almost-too-adorable scarlet fuzzball Elmo, and the likable and driven puppeteer Kevin Clash who turned him from a minor character into a breakout phenomenon. Although not especially deep, it has great charm and some interesting insights into the extraordinary Henson universe. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Beloved (Les Bien-Aimés) (15) ●●●●● (Christophe Honoré, France/UK/Czech Republic, 2011) Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Ludivine Sagnier. 139min. Elegiac musical contrasting the lives of Madeleine (Sagnier and Deneuve as younger and older incarnations) and her daughter Vera (Mastroianni), who were young in the 60s and the early 21st century respectively. A sprawling, poignant, ambitious epic of unrequited love. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Big Banana Feet (15) (Murray Grigor, Scotland, 1976) 77min. A fascinating time capsule of a documentary, as Grigor and David Peat follow Billy Connolly on his 1975 Irish tour, as the young comedian faces a tense political situation. Part of the David Peat season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. The Big Snatch (Mélodie en Sous- sol) (15) (Henri Verneuil, France/Italy, 1963) Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Claude Cerval. 118min. Alain Delon forms a team with Gabin (who he later credited as a great influence) in this thriller about a casino heist in Cannes. Part of the Jean Gabin season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. ✽✽Blame It on Voltaire (La Faute à Voltaire) (tbc) (Abdellatif Kechiche, France, 2000) Sami Bouajila, Élodie Bouchez, Bruno Lochet. 130min. This drama following a group of people on the edges of French society has few qualms when it comes to filmmaking rules, happily bending them to suit the story’s ends. Part of Refugee Week. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Blank City (15) (Celine Danhier, US, 2010) 94min. Documentary depicting the crime and drug-addled mess that was 1970s Manhattan. This hotbed of the disenfranchised masses became the home of one of the most radical, libertine and raw DIY cinema movements ever produced with pioneers including Debbie Harry, Jim Jarmusch and Amos Poe. Cameo, Edinburgh. Breathing (Atmen) (15) (Karl Markovics, Austria, 2011) Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Gerhard Liebmann. 93min. Dramatic directorial debut from Austrian actor Markovics (The Counterfeiters). macrobert, Stirling. Bringing Up Baby (PG) (Howard Hawks, US, 1938) Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Charles Ruggles. 102min. Zany gal Hepburn causes timid zoology professor Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and mislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypal 30s crazy comedy with one outlandishly hilarious scene following another and both stars at their charismatic best. Part of Man and Beast season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. The Cabin in the Woods (15) ●●●●● (Drew Goddard, US, 2012) Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford. 105min. Five sex- and booze-fuelled teenagers get more than they bargained for when they 92 THE LIST 24 May–21 Jun 2012
Under the Stars As a prelude to this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival St Andrew Square Gardens will be turned into an outdoor cinema. Over four nights you’ll be able to enjoy a selection of classic cinema and new releases suitable for the whole family. Bring a picnic blanket (and perhaps a brolly too). Programme to be announced end of May – check www.edfilmfest.org for more details. ■ St Andrew Square Garden, Edinburgh, Thu 14–Sun 17 Jun.
holiday in an isolated log cabin. Co-creators Whedon (Buffy) and Goddard (Cloverfield) deliver the most original horror movie of the year, with something in its box of tricks to scare everyone. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Café de Flore (15) ●●●●● (Jean Marc-Vallee, Canada/France, 2011) Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Helene Florent. 120min. In present-day Montreal, Antoine (Parent) leaves his wife and sets up a home with their children and his new girlfriend (Brochu), while in 1960s Paris, abandoned wife Jacqueline (Paradis) struggles to raise her disabled son (Gerrier). Stylish editing and musical motifs attempt to connect these otherwise unrelated storylines, but the result is cheap and distasteful. Selected release. Casa de mi Padre (15) ●●●●● (Matt Piedmont, US, 2012) Will Ferrell, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal. 85min. See review, page 88. General release from Fri 8 Jun. A Cat in Paris (PG) (Jean-Loup Felicioli/Alain Gagnol, France/Netherlands, 2010) Voices of Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui. 70min. An intriguing animation about the wanderings of a cat who is by day a friend to a little girl, but by night accompanies a big-hearted burglar around Paris. macrobert, Stirling. ✽✽ Colour of the Ocean (Die Peren, Germany, 2011) Álex González, Sabine Timoteo, Hubert Koundé. 95min. No good deed goes unpunished in Maggie Peren’s impressive feature woven around attitudes to the waves of African refugees desperately seeking a better life in Europe. Edinburgh screening features a Q&A and discussion with director Maggie Peren. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Part of Refugee Week. Contagion (12A) ●●●●● (Steven Soderbergh, US/UAE, 2011) Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law. 106min. Soderbergh revives the type of all-star disaster movie last seen in the 1970s with this sober account of a deadly virus which threatens the world’s population. It lacks any central heart or focus, focusing on the bigger picture rather than clichéd dramatics. Followed by a Q&A session with a panel of experts from the fields of infectious disease, discussing whether a deadly virus really could wipe out the human race. Part of Glasgow Science Festival. CCA, Glasgow. The Cosmic Dissecting Room Show (tbc) (Vasilis Vafeas, Greece, 1993) Grigoris Semitecolo, Nefeli Anthopolou, Farbe des Ozeans) (15) (Maggie
Nelli Semitecolo. Surrealist artist Grigoris (Semitecolo, playing himself) leaves Athens to stage a happening on the island of Samos. Part of Is there anything to do here, is there anything to see? CCA, Glasgow.
Cronenberg, Canada/France, 2012) ✽✽ Cosmopolis (15) (David Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Juliette Binoche. Adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel, starring Pattinson as the brattish, over-indulged, 28-year-old billionaire riding around Manhattan on a limo-borne day-long odyssey. General release from Fri 15 Jun. The Crazies (18) (George A Romero, US, 1973) Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones. 103min. When a manmade virus makes the residents of a Pennsylvanian town go mad, the military steps in to try to eradicate it in Romero’s precursor to Dawn of the Dead. Part of Brain Food: George A Romero season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Dalai Lama Renaissance (tbc) (Khashyar Darvich, US, 2007) 81min. Documentary charting the journey made by 40 visionaries and innovative thinkers to visit the Dalai Lama in Tibet for five days of discussions on the future of the planet. macrobert, Stirling; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Damsels in Distress (15) ●●●●● (Whit Stillman, US, 2012) Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton. 99min. The titular damsels are a group of female undergrads led by the obsessive-compulsive Violet (Gerwig, good) who set about rescuing their fellow students from perceived ills. It’s good to have director Stillman back after 14 years, even if the pointed wit has been replaced by studied silliness. macrobert, Stirling. The Darjeeling Limited (15) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, US, 2007) Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman. 104min. Three eccentric brothers (Wilson, Brody and Schwartzman) cross India by train in an attempt to deal with the recent death of their father. On this evidence writer/director Anderson is fast becoming the John Cheever of US cinema. A delight. Cameo, Edinburgh. Dark Shadows (12A) ●●●●● (Tim Burton, US, 2012) Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Eva Green, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz. 113min. 18th century vampire Barnabas Collins (Depp)
escapes from his coffin to find himself in Maine in 1972. It’s fun, thanks to a smart script and plenty of surreal humour; Burton regulars Depp and Bonham-Carter are a hoot, but Moretz and Green could have used more restraint. General release. ✽✽ Death Watch (La mort en Direct) (15) ●●●●● (Bertrand Tavernier, 1980) Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Max von Sydow. Katherine (Schneider) is a novelist living in Glasgow who's been diagnosed with a terminal disease; Roddy (Keitel) befriends her, but unknown to her he works for a TV company with its own agenda. Re- issue. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. The Descendants (15) ●●●●● (Alexander Payne, US, 2011) George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller. 115min. When his wife is seriously injured during a boating trip with her lover, a Hawaiian land baron (Clooney) takes his daughters on a trip to confront her beau. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh. The Dictator (15) ●●●●● (Larry Charles, US, 2012) Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly. Admiral General Aladeen (Cohen) is the titular dictator: a sexist, racist, fascist pig with a penchant for execution, who during a trip to the UN is betrayed by his right-hand man (Kingsley). The jokes come thick, fast and obvious but despite moments of solid satire it feels a bit stale. General release. Dinotasia (PG) (David Krentz, Erik Nelson, US, 2012) 83min. Werner Herzog narrates this documentary-style film which uses CGI to re-create the world of the dinosaurs. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. ECA Animation (Various, UK, 2011–12) 120min. A collection of work from Edinburgh College of Art’s graduating students. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. ECA Film & TV (15) (Various, UK, 2011–12) 120min. A collection of work from Edinburgh College of Art’s graduating filmmakers. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Edinburgh Short Film Festival (Various, 2011–12) A selection of the best shorts by filmmakers from around the world. Part of Leith Festival. The Granary, Edinburgh. Edinburgh’s Telford College (15) (Various, UK, 2011–12) 120min. Shorts from this year’s cream of the crop of TV students in the Telford College Degree Show. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.